The Buffalo Bills made a number of moves as they released key parts of their franchise for a very long time. Unfortunately, the moves were needed as the Bills were well over the salary cap and still have work to do.
However, one move that was reportedly made on Wednesday doesn't have an immediate impact for the team. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Bills are releasing Tre'Davious White but are doing so with a June 1st designation.
White was a first round pick by the Buffalo Bills in the 2017 NFL Draft and would be the first draft pick by Sean McDermott as head coach. Early in his career he looked like a great pick with two Pro Bowl nominations, one first-team All-Pro selection, and one second-team All-Pro selection in his first four years.
However, the past three seasons has been a struggle due to injuries after he suffered a torn ACL in 2021 and then missed a majority of the 2022 season as he recovered. This past season, White played only four games after suffering a torn Achilles.
Why did the Buffalo Bills use a June 1st designation to release Tre'Davious White?
The move was surprising because of what White has meant to this defense but based on the past few years, it makes sense. However, what doesn't make sense is the fact the Bills used a June 1st designation.
When teams release players with a June 1st designation, it allows teams to split the dead cap over this season and next season. It drops the dead cap from over $10 million this year to only $6.2 million this year and $4.1 million next season. It also creates over $10 million in cap savings for the 2024 season.
However, the reason the move doesn't make sense is that it doesn't give the Buffalo Bills any kind of cap relief now. The Bills will need to carry that contract until June 1st so if the move was made to create cap space, it would have made sense to take the $10 million in dead cap and get over $6 million in cap savings that can be used now.
One potential reason for the move is that the Bills plan to use the $10 million later in the offseason to extend a player, like maybe Greg Rousseau. However, outside of that, this is a designation that is odd at best.